In the first ten years of the 20th century, American society was in a golden age of development, with unlimited potential and substantial increase in wealth. On the other hand, the vicious expansion of capitalism has made various social contradictions increasingly acute. At the end of the "Westward Movement", the industrialization and urbanization of eastern cities have developed rapidly, the gap between the rich and the poor has widened, the contradiction between labor and capital is prominent, and the unemployment crisis has worsened. And early immigrants have formed inherent privileged groups, which dominate the economic and political lifeline of a city, even an entire region, and even a state. In the 1920s, because of the prevalence of idealism, almost all contradictions in society were covered up. Therefore, it can be seen in the film that the upper-class people of Atlantic City lead an indulgent life of luxury and sensuality. Material desires and passions flow, without concealment and evasion. But at the same time, the lives of the people in Atlantic City are not happy. Shops and workers who have been squeezed, hooligans and vagrants running around, the gap between the rich and the poor is obvious. Nucky is the representative of the privileged group. Covering the sky with one hand, even though it is only the county treasurer, from election to liquor sales, from the port to the shop, they are all involved and in control.
In contrast, the federal prohibition made the agent's life almost ascetic, even though he ended up having sex with Lucy, one of Nucky's mistresses. In the process of social development in the United States, the Christian spirit is an invisible moral force, which can be said to be a purifier of the turbulent waves of material desire. Therefore, plots related to beliefs and religions have appeared many times in the film. Including Irish beliefs, Christian beliefs, and Jewish beliefs. Agent Nelson finally killed his subordinates in the name of religion. Although the subordinates deserved the crime, but from this we can see Nelson's self-discipline spirit. Ironically, even though Nelson's wife has never been pregnant, and he himself is not keen on treatment, Lucy unexpectedly has his seed. This should have a big impact on Nelson's performance in S2.
On the other hand, although slavery has been abolished and the blacks have been liberated in name, their destiny has not changed. Therefore, the most important black character in the film, Chalky, finally gave Nucky the invitation to the banquet. It can be seen that black people still need to make great efforts for equal rights. Aiming at the servants who will be poisoned also reflects the fact that racial discrimination is still rooted in the minds of early European immigrants, which is hard to change until now.
The Atlantic Empire can be said to be a long scroll, covering all aspects of Atlantic City. It started with Prohibition and ended with the election of the new Republican mayor. Although the Republicans started out with opposing privileges, in that era, the Republicans had been in tune with the Democrats and became conservative forces. Therefore, the great contrast between the reform concept proposed during the election of the new mayor and the speech after the election can be said to be a great irony of politics.
If Atlantic City, as a port city and dominated by Irish immigrants, has opened up its ideas and democratic ideas have begun to take root in the hearts of the people, then in the inland city of Chicago, you can see a more conservative but more licentious society. Rush and brothels are part of daily life, and gang trading is also indispensable in broad daylight. This kind of conservativeness is a kind of money supremacy that is almost fundamentalism. And what Nucky said when he persuaded Jimmy to come back, and uttered the contradictions between the immigrant collectives of different countries in the past. The differences in language, customs, and religion make them not really trust each other.
As the heroine of the film, Margaret, in addition to the dual status of widow and mistress, most importantly reflects the prosperity of the very important feminist movement at that time. The most ingenious part of this play is that every important social change is written lightly into personal life. However, her tragedy is that even though she has feminist ideas, she still cannot escape the influence of powerful patriarchal and patriarchal society. Finally, during that meal, the mistress of the presidential candidate got the ring in the cake and she was a rag. Although she returned to Nucky lightly, she still showed her weakness and her unbelief in her independent thoughts. And, although she always thought that she could control Nucky, in fact she was firmly in his hands.
Racial discrimination and feminism are still hot topics in American society. Although with the progress of society, black equal rights and equality between men and women have been widely recognized, whether equality itself means discrimination is still debated. The convergence between the Democratic and Republican parties has also intensified in the past century. Political corruption has not been completely eradicated, and the phenomenon of election manipulation by interest groups and privileged groups still exists.
On the one hand, the political idealism of the 1920s helped the United States to make brilliant achievements in the development of capitalism. On the other hand, it also laid a huge foreshadowing for the crisis of the 1930s. Since then, liberalism has been interfered, state monopolies have emerged, and there is control. The market has become the mainstream of the future economy. The United States is no longer laissez-faire. Of course these are things to follow. In fact, Nucky in the play should eventually be defeated by federal agents, which to some extent heralds the beginning of government intervention.
In the last words, the Brigadier General chose Jimmy and Nucky's younger brother Eli, preparing to take back Atlantic City from Nucky. This will probably be the main line of the second season. However, a great screenwriter is that he can write a negative role that everyone loves, while a positive role cannot be loved. The IQ and experience of these two people combined are not enough for Nucky's fraction, so what can they do? Although in this statement, the screenwriter added a lot of negative past to Nucky, but still will not shake the action as the image of the gang boss in the eyes of the audience.
It is worth mentioning that Angela, Jimmy's wife, exists to highlight the status of Paris in Western society at that time. As a painter, perhaps she has not yet become a home, Paris will always be her longing. Although she stayed in the end, it wasn't because of love for Jimmy. As a literary and artistic youth of that era, she didn't mind doing anything out of the ordinary. Including same-sex love with Mary.
As an epic film, except for the lengthy sex scenes, it can almost be said to be very exciting. And the suspense left by the screenwriter in S1 is quite enough for the next development. There are occasional climaxes in the gentle development, and every detail is considered to have a beginning and an end. Even the music can tell how hard it is.
S2 is still worth looking forward to. Hope to see the impact of more social changes.
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